Device in loading pallets



DEVICE IN LOADING PALLETS Filed Feb. 17, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 L 17 2 IO g -14 E: H CD I Jjzql INVENTOR.

'R. Car/s'rm Afroameg Sept. 17, 1968 R. cARLsnom 3,401,651

DEVICE IN LOADING PALLETS Filed Feb. 17, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. R. C ar! slfr' m alidus y- A TORNE$ Sept. 17, 1968 R. cARLs-rROM DEVICE IN LOADING PALLETS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 17, 1967 INVENTOR.

ATTOYLNQBS United States Patent 3,401,651 DEVICE IN LOADING PALLETS Roland Carlstrfim, Arjangsgatan 1A, Amal, Sweden Filed Feb. 17, 1967, Ser. No. 616,868 1 Claim. (Cl. 108-51) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A load carrying pallet having a rectangular bottom frame, pillars located at the corners of the frame and hingedly connected to the frame and lateral supports hingedly connected to said pillars, so that the pillars with the supports may be easily swung from an upright position to a lying position upon the frame and vice versa.

The present invention relates to pallets of the type having a frame, preferably made of box shaped steel sections, the top side of which is adapted to receive the required load and also to serve the purpose of providing means for mounting vertical lateral supports and hinged vertical end walls, which by manual operation may be folded downwards to occupy a reclining position on the load platform of the pallet, when not in use.

Such pallets are convenient for the accommodation of load during transportation by ship or other forwarding means, and the reason of providing them with folding end walls and lateral supports is to make it possible to stack them on top of each other when not loaded, thus occupying comparatively little space.

The invention in accordance with the present application for letters patent in the first place aims at providing for one thing a link or hinge connection between an end wall and two adjacent lateral supports, and for another by a simple manual operation to move two lateral supports and one end wall to a reclined position on top of the loading platform ofthe pallet. Such structural details have a low manufacturing cost, are not of complicated design and contribute to the rigidity of the unit only a few handgn'ps being required to swing or fold the end walls and the lateral supports into one position or the other. The solution of the problem is substantially characterized by two lateral supports, each one preferably of a longitudinal extension not exceeding one half of the width of the pallet, and having a hinged connection to the extreme end portion of an adjacent end wall, said portion preferably being an element of tubular design, whereby the mounting of said supports permits them to swing in inward direction towards each other, until they finally at the limit of their movement arrive in a position parellel to the respective end walls, each one of the tubular end wall elements constituting the extreme end portion of each end wall, at a certain distance from the bottom being provided with a hinge by means of which the end wall and consequently also the lateral supports simultaneously can be folded in inwardly downward direction towards the mid portion of the pallet.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention a lateral support substantially has the configuration of a right angled triangle, the whole support unit hinged to and guiding a tubular post, constituting the extreme portion of an end wall, permitting the lateral support to swing in the horizontal plane, said hinge connection comprising a channel shaped bracket, the horizontal flanges of which are provided with openings and between them receive tubular ears, provided in the vertical portion of the lateral supports, which ears are kept in place by a vertical connecting shaft.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described "ice below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a pallet provided with lateral supports and end Walls in accordance with the invention,

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the pallet as seen from one end wall, and

FIG. 3 is a top plane view of a pallet as seen from above.

The rectangularly shaped pallet, shown in the drawings, comprises a frame portion 10, made of box shaped steel sections, the particular design of which will not be described as not being an object of this invention. The load supporting structure according to the embodiment shown in the drawings comprises in total four lateral supports and two end walls. Each end wall is made up of two pillar elements 11, 12 preferably of tubular design, occupying an upright position, when the pallet is in use, said pillars located at two adjacent corners of the loading platform, interconnected and supported by ties 13. The metal tubes or uprights 11, 12 may be received in correspondingly configurated openings at the respective corners of the loading platform of the box shaped bottom section of the pallet assembly. Slightly above the top surface of said loading platform, each tube 11, 12 is provided with a hinge 14, the contact surface 15 between the swinging and the fixed portions of the tube having an outwardly somewhat declining extension in order to prevent the end wall from accidental folding.

Each such end wall 11, 12, 13 is hinged to lateral supports located at each side of the same and in the drawings indicated by the numeral 16. In accordance with the chosen embodiment each lateral support has substantially the shape of a right angled triangle, the horizontal portion of which, as shown in the drawings, being of a dimension suitably not exceeding one half of the width of the loading platform. The vertical portions 18 of two opposing lateral supports are provided with ears 19 to be received between the horizontal flanges, provided with openings, belonging to the channel shaped support 20 of the tubular metal elements 11, 12. The vertical shaft indicated at 21 completes the desired hinge connection between the lateral supports 16 and end wall 11, 12.

In order to keep the lateral and consequently also the corresponding end wall in fixed position when using the pallet, i.e. when it carries a load, the top of the loading platform is provided with a bracket 22, adapted to receive the inner portion of each lateral support, which is secured by a withdrawable pin 23. As a complementary support of the load, bars 24 of adjustable tension may interconnect two lateral supports of lengthwise alignment.

Removing pin 23 from the locking bracket of the opposing lateral supports, the latter may be brought to swing on hinges 19, 20, 21 to a position parallel to end wall 11, 12. Thereafter by means of hinge element 14, 15 the end wall 11, 12 and consequently the opposing lateral supports are folded downwardly inwards towards the centre of the loading platform.

The operation in reverse, i.e. moving the supports into working position, is carried out by raising the end wall to upright position, whereby the lateral supports automatically take part in the movement, whereafter said opposite lateral supports are swung out and secured by the pin in the locking brackets 22.

Variations of details are possible within the scope of the invention. For example the lateral supports may have another configuration and extension than the one shown, and the hinge connection may be of another type than the one described in the chosen embodiment.

I claim:

1. A loading pallet, comprising, in combination, a rectangular bottom frame, a separate pillar located upon each corner of said rectangular 'frame, a separate hinge connecting each pillar to said frame to enable the pillar to be folded from a position wherein it extends perpendicularly to said frame to a position wherein it lies upon the frame, a separate lateral support located adjacent each pillar, each of said supports having the shape of a right angled triangle with a portion extending parallel to the pillar, a portion extending at right angles to the firstmentioned portion and a portion interconnecting the ends of the first mentioned and second-mentioned portions, the length of the second-mentioned portion being less than one-half of the width of said rectangular frame, and hinges connecting opposite ends of the first-mentioned portion to the pillar to enable each support to be swung from a position wherein it extends parallel to one side of the rectangular frame to a position wherein it extends perpendicularly to said one side, whereby each lateral support may be folded along with the pillar to which it is hinged to lie flat upon said bottom frame.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1955 Chase et a1 108-53 8/ 1959 Farrar.

12/ 1959 Arthur.

6/ 1960 Sim.

10/ 1960 DArca 10853 9/ 1961 OBrien.

11/1961 Ingrartsen.

5/ 1964 Phillips 10855 4/1965 Entel 10853 7/ 1966 J ohansson.

FOREIGN PATENTS 3/ 1960 Australia. 11/ 1962 Great Britain. 

